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Coin Ring - DIY Tutorial

About: As a hobby I post DIY/tutorials on crafting and mechanical builds on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/victordoes/videos
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In this tutorial we are going through the few simple steps in how to craft/"smith" a coin ring with a flat surface. But, if your careful (and with some luck) whit the last step you will be able to have some of the pattern from the coin on the inside edges. :)

Step 1: Materials

Price: 1 – 5$ || Time: 3 – 4 h || Difficulty: Easy – Medium

For this project we need:( "1.")

A coin (without nickel)

Hammer

Anvil (or for example an weight)

Drill and screwdriver

Round-file

Metal Polish and polish disc

Optional: ("3.")

Screw

Washers 2pcs

Nut

In the price the tools are not included. But, screw, washers, nut, coin, and polish is!

The Anvil can be replaced with something else that can take a pounding, for example a weight!

This project is time and muscle consuming. Recommended is that you craft/"smith" this in intervals, both for you and your neighbors. Make sure that you do not disturb any one or doing this project in hours that are inappropriate. Make sure to check your law in destroying money. :)

Step 2: Watch This Video First! :)

Start by watching this video, all steps are shown in this video done by me!

Step 3: Your Way!

Start of by chose how you want to roll the coin! You are going to do this for approximately 3h if nothing goes wrong..

"1." Show a method where you are going to roll the coin by hand. this can be a little bit more tricky to get a smooth movement/roll on the coin. But with this method you can let the coin roll between your fingers the whole length of your anvil/weight without changing grip .

In "2." I have drilled a hole and attached a screw and a nut throe the hole, with a washer on each side of the coin. With this method you can with ease create a smooth movement/roll. The coin will not get stuck on uneven edges and such. But on the downside, you need to get a new very often while spinning the screw between your fingers.

The choose is yours! ;)

Step 4: Hammering, Hammering, Hammering... Polish!

This header may be a little bit misleading.. You should definitely NOT hammering! more truly you should ->TAP<- the coin!!

From now it dose not matter which method of rolling the coin your using.. Place the coin with the side on your anvil, as shown in "1.". Than grab your hammer and start taping. Tap often and almost only let the hammer fall on the coin with its own weight. Do not forget to role the coin, a evenly spread deforming is to prefer! It can take up till 15min before you can see any change at all. If your stressing and start to hit the coin to hard it will instead start to bend, and the whole project is ruined...

The goal is to make the edge to "spread"with a mushroom shape when we force the metal down against the middle. You can see how I mean in "2."!

Keep hammering until you reach the right size! not the width, but the size... If the rings width is to large for your liking when the size is right you can simply use a plain file and remove until your pleased! :) But.. if the width is to small... then you have to start over.. :( Using a larger coin does often solve this problem and makes sure that this unpleasant surprise appears after 3-4h!

If you have hit the coin to hard and the ring have started to bend, you may try this!

Place the ring plat against your anvil, place another coin on top and hit this coin. This will damage your rings edges but may save the project! But if your unlucky you may need to start over...

After your ring has the right size, drill a whole in the middle (if your rolling the coin by hand), then use your round file and remove the rest of the material until your close to the edge. If your careful you ma be able to save some "traces" of the original coin pattern in there! :) When this is done simply polish the ring and your done!

Best of wises and happy crafting! :)

If you liked this please take a look at my YouTube page. Subscribe to make sure you do not miss any fun projects that I do not post here. It means a lot to me! :)

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5 Discussions

I did one of these recently for my wife from a U.S. Quarter. I ended up 1/2 size too big. You are totally right that you should take your time. Many will rush the process. I see you used many smaller strikes than I did. I used a larger hammer and fewer hits. BUT Mine deformed many times like you indicated. I used a piece of flat 1/4" (6.3500mm) stainless steel with light taps to even it out. After thought was that if one had an arbor press they could gently press the ring back flat with minimal edge deformation. For my next one I will be buying a ring sizer kit. I would advise anyone going this route to buy a steel ring sizer kit if at all possible. While the plastic ones that you find on eBay might get you close there is no substitute for a metal set.

On another note I have to ask what you did to avoid the skin discoloration because of the nickel in the coin. I suppose some are reactive to these metals and some are not. Any advise would be appreciated. If there is a non-U.S. coin that could be used for this project I would love to know which one. BTW great Instructable.